Hollow Inside
by The Hollow Inside
Summary: It's been twenty years since the end of the Arrancar War, and everything seems to be normal. That is, until Ichigo's kids are attacked by a Hollow, then everything just goes downhill from there...
1. Shinigami

Hey everyone! This is my first time trying to write a story, so I hope it's okay! I had to write a short story for English, so I decided to use Bleach for "inspiration" (coughchangednamescough) But anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and I hope it's not too confusing!

A young girl of about 15 sat on the edge of the river, fully enjoying the peaceful scene in front of her. The sun was setting, with few clouds in the sky. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by loud arguing coming from behind the girl. "Well, so much for peace and quiet…" the girl thought as she turned to glare at her two younger siblings. The two children of about 11, however, did not notice the looks they were receiving and continued to bicker. No one noticed the clouds gathering together, signaling that it was about to rain. The eldest of the three just glared at them for several minutes before finally losing her patience.

"Kaien! Hisana! Can't you two shut up for five minutes?!" she shouted. This finally got the younger two's attention. They looked at each other for a moment before Kaien, the boy, answered, "Sorry Masaki".

Masaki was the oldest of her siblings. She had bright orange hair, which hung down to her waist, with bangs that covered her right eye. She was average height, and had dark brown eyes. Hisana was 11 years old and had dark, raven colored hair that went down to her shoulders. She was short for her age and had a slim build, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue, almost purple. Kaien was Hisana's twin, as well as the only boy. He was somewhat tall for his age, with short spiky black hair and dark blue eyes.

They sat there in silence for a long time, when suddenly they heard a very loud howl. They tried to figure out where it came from, when suddenly the ground next to them seemed to explode. As Masaki searched for her brother and sister in the darkness created by the dirt that had been blown into the air, she saw something that made her blood run cold. She stared in shock at the sight in front of her; Kaien and Hisana were unconscious, but it was what stood behind them that scared Masaki the most. Standing there was a large creature, with a skull like face. Its body vaguely resembled a giant hamster, and it seemed to be wearing some kind of mask. But by far, the strangest thing about it had to be what looked like a fishing lure hanging from the creature's forehead. An evil laugh tore Masaki from her thoughts as she glared daggers at the thing that was laughing at her.

"What the heck are you?!" she yelled at the thing. It merely looked at her with its glowing red eyes before laughing once again. This just made Masaki even angrier; it had hurt her family and it was just _laughing_! "I said, what the heck _are_ you?! And what did you do to Kaien and Hisana?!" From the look of the creature, she doubted it could actually speak, but it was worth a shot.

"I am called Grandfisher, and they have merely been knocked out. But, you seem to smell _much_ tastier than them." Masaki merely stared for a moment, shocked that it could actually speak, before realizing what it had just said. She merely growled at it in response, not noticing the rain that had begun to pour on them.

Grandfisher then charged at Masaki. Just as it was about to hit her, Masaki leaped to the side; just barely dodging the attack. As it began to turn around to prepare to ram her again, she heard someone shouting her name. When she turned, she saw her mother and father running towards her. "Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?" she asked as they reached her. "How did you know we were in trouble?" They glanced at each other, before replying in a tone that was way too cheerful "Parental instincts, obviously!" Masaki's face then deadpanned. "That sounds so cheesy…"

Almost immediately, her parent became serious again, and asked "Are Kaien and Hisana okay?" Masaki merely nodded. She watched curiously as her mother held her hands in front of herself and started to mutter something under her breath. Suddenly, a large fireball shot out of her mother's hands at Grandfisher. Immediately, her father ran over and grabbed Kaien and Hisana while it was distracted, before doing a back flip in order to dodge the fishing lure as it came swinging at him. Masaki stared in amazement at what had just happened, before her father shoved Kaien and Hisana into her arms and told her to run away.

Masaki turned and ran as fast as she could toward her home. That is, until she crashed right into someone.

"Watch where you're-_Masaki_?!" After hearing her name, she looked up and saw a man with bright red hair pulled into a ponytail. A very _familiar_ man with red hair.

"Uncle Renji! What are you doing here?" He stared at her for a moment before glancing down at the two unconscious forms in her arms.

"I was talking to your parents when all of a sudden they jumped up and ran out of the house. Now I can see why though…" As he was helping her carry her brother, Masaki thought about how strange Renji was.

Anyone who looked at him knew there was something weird about him, but they couldn't even imagine how strange a person Abarai Renji truly was. He had many zigzagging tattoos on his forehead, neck, chest, and arms, and wore a white bandana on his forehead. Normally, Masaki wouldn't care about the tattoos, but his _eyebrows_, his freaking _eyebrows_, were tattoos! The reason why always has, and always will, remain a mystery to Masaki. But, that is not the strangest thing. Masaki didn't know what it was, but there was something very different about Renji. Something that put her on edge, but made her feel like she could relax at the same time, strange as that may be.

She was snapped out of her musings when she heard her mother scream. Both she and Renji turned around and hurried back to the river. They saw that her father was kneeling next to her mother, who was covered in blood; Grandfisher was nowhere to be seen. Renji carefully put Kaien down on the sidewalk and ran down next to Masaki's mother.

"Rukia! You okay?" Rukia merely groaned and tried to sit up; she immediately fell back down.

"Calm down Rukia, it looks like your leg might be broken…" Masaki's father muttered. Renji turned towards him and asked

"What about you Ichigo? Are you hurt?" Ichigo shook his head.

"I'm okay Renji; we need to take care of Rukia and the kids…" Ichigo then collapsed, and Renji was shocked to see the severity of the injuries he had sustained.

Ichigo had a large hole going through his stomach and out his back, and he was coughing up blood. His face was very pale from all of the blood he was losing. Masaki was, to say the least, horrified.

"Dad!" she screamed, the fear evident in her voice. As she tried to run towards him, though, someone grabbed her arm. "LET GO!!" she screamed at the man, who she recognized as one of her parent's friends, although she could not remember his name. At the moment though, she could care less what his name was, all she cared about was whether her father would be alright or not.

"Relax, I'll take care of your mother and father! I mean, they are my best customers!" he said _way_ too cheerfully, so that you could almost _hear_ the little heart after it. 'Customers? Oh, right, he owns that weird candy store. And _how_ can he be so cheerful sounding?! Freak.' Masaki thought as she watched him walk down and grabbed Rukia, before telling Renji to carry Ichigo.

"Masaki-chan! Would you please grab your brother and sister and follow me!" Masaki only stared at him for a moment before quickly picking up her siblings and followed the cheerful fellow to his store. Inside the shop, she followed the men into a back room where Sandal-Hat (she had decided to call him that because of his strange attire) put down her mother and Renji carefully laid down Ichigo. Following their lead, she placed Kaien and Hisana next to her parents.

"Oh, Masaki-chan, could you please wait with Abarai-kun outside? I need to help treat your family's injuries!" Masaki glanced down at her parents; more specifically, her father. Ichigo's condition was getting worse; he was extremely pale and his wound was still bleeding, and his coughing was getting worse. Renji led her outside as she started to cry.

"It's okay, they'll be alright. Rukia's just got a broken leg or something like that, she'll be better soon, and Ichigo's had much worse, trust me. They should be up and about in just a few days at most." Masaki finally calmed down, but shot a disbelieving look at Renji, who returned it with a goofy grin.

"What the heck do you mean 'a few days _at most_'? Don't broken bones take _months_ to heal? And Dad's stomach didn't look all that great either!" She fumed at the red head.

"Urahara-san may be a bit nuts, but he'll have them back on their feet soon enough. He's just weird like that." Masaki felt that he was hiding something from her again, but didn't question it. Instead, she decided to think about what had just happened. She thought back first to the creature that had attacked them; Grandfisher it said its name was. 'Why did that thing seem to be wearing a mask? And what was with that weird fishing lure thing? And how did my parent _really_ know I was in trouble? …Wait, why weren't they surprised to see that thing? And what was that weird spell that my mother had used on it?! God, this is all so confusing!!' Then she remembered something she had overheard her parents talking to Renji and Urahara about once.

_Masaki was about nine years old, and she had gotten up early to surprise her parents, when she heard voices she didn't recognize in the other room. The door was open ajar, so she peeked through. "I just don't like the idea of you trying to teach these kids how to fight! They're still too young! I mean, Masaki is only nine, and she's the oldest!" 'Uncle Renji?' she thought, recognizing his voice and red hair, before listening again. "I just thought it may be a good idea to teach them how to protect themselves in case something happens when you aren't around." A strange man with a green striped hat replied. 'Who is that?' Masaki wondered, until her question was answered by the next statement; "Don't worry about that Kisuke! I can teach my wonderful grandchildren how to protect themselves, just like how I taught my son!" "DARN IT DAD!! I'm NOT having you launch surprise attacks on my kids every time they walk through a door!!" 'Dad and Grandpa are fighting again…' Sure enough, Ichigo and his father were busy trying to literally hurl each other across the room as Renji and Urahara watched, very amused by the sight. As the two continued to bicker, and Masaki had to stifle a laugh, Renji just said "You should trust Ichigo and Rukia to raise their kids well, they really are great parents. In fact, sometimes Ichigo acts more like a mother than Rukia!" This caused them both to burst out laughing and continued to watch the fight._

Masaki was, if possible, even more confused now as she tried to figure out what everything meant. While she was busy attempting to figure it out, Renji was doing some thinking of his own. It was true that while Masaki, Kaien, and Hisana called him 'Uncle', he wasn't actually related to them. Rukia said that the reason was that he was basically a brother to her, since they grew up together, and that it was only fair that he get to be called uncle. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he felt very happy to be called uncle by them; even if he was in a terrible mood, as soon as one of them had asked their 'Uncle Renji' what was wrong, he would instantly cheer up.

Darn it, he was getting all emotional! Renji doesn't _do_ emotional! Renji's always the tough guy with a smart mouth, _not_ the overly protective, emotional guy Ichigo is when with the kids. In fact, everyone had started calling him 'Mommy Ichi' whenever he started getting like that. Renji almost laughed at the idea, before suddenly something large hit him in the back of the head; knocking him unconscious. Masaki was snapped out of her musings when Renji was suddenly thrown into a wall. She snapped her head back to see what had attacked him, and saw something she was hoping she wouldn't, Grandfisher. Without even thinking, Masaki lunged at the creature in front of her, who quickly jumped out of the way. It swung its arm to hit her in the stomach, when she jumped a seemingly impossible ten feet in the air. As she landed on its back, the orange haired teen pulled back her fist as red and black energy surrounded it. With a loud scream, Masaki pounced off of Grandfisher, turned in midair, and threw her fist toward the shocked creature, hitting it right between the eyes. The strange mask cracked and Grandfisher stumbled back, shocked that a mere _human_ had nearly killed it with only _one_ punch!

Masaki didn't know what was going on, but she didn't care; she was going to kill this thing for attacking her family. She dashed behind it while it was still dazed from the hit and kicked its back leg as hard as she could. She smirked evilly as she heard the sickening crunch of bones being broken, before doing a flip and landing on its back once again. As Grandfisher howled in pain, Masaki let her anger at it fuel her power as another black and red ball of energy formed around her hands. As she felt as if her arms would burst from the power surging through them, she pointed her hands at its head and released the ball of energy. Just as expected, it blasted Grandfisher's head right off before it even knew what happened. Almost immediately, Grandfisher's body seemed to disintegrate.

As Masaki watched it vanish, suddenly the energy she'd had while fighting seemed to disappear as well, and she collapsed to the ground. Renji had woken up by this point, it seemed, as he slowly walked toward her. When he reached the teen, he asked her is she was alright; her reply was a low groan. Renji carefully picked her up and carried her back into Urahara's shop.

Masaki woke up the next day to find that she was still inside the shop, her parents, Renji, and the twins staring at her. She sat up with a groan, rubbing her temples; she had a serious migraine. She looked again at the people staring at her with surprised expressions on their faces.

"What the heck are you all staring at? And ... _Dad_?! I thought you had a big hole in your stomach! What are you doing up?!" Everyone just continued to stare, making her feel _extremely_ uncomfortable. "Why are you all staring at me?!" They continued to stare for a few more moments before Kaien finally answered.

"HOW DID YOU _DO_ THAT?!" Masaki merely stared blankly at him for a moment.

"…I have _no_ idea." They all stared at her for several more minutes, before Urahara came in.

"Masaki-chan! I see that you are awake, so let me explain what happened last night!" he said in his overly cheerful voice. Masaki sure wasn't going to argue, she wanted an explanation about what that creature was, and how she seemed to obtain some kind of strange power when fighting it.

Urahara then launched into a long winded explanation that Grandfisher was actually a type of spirit that devours people's souls, called a Hollow. He also explained that Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji have powers similar to what Masaki used the night before, and use them to fight the Hollows. Actually, Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji have much different powers, but they are still used to fight the Hollows.

"So, what are your powers?" Masaki asked the adults. "And how does Urahara-san know all this?" Everyone remained silent for a several minutes, before Masaki glared at them; this was so confusing, and she wanted answers! "I just asked you a question! Answer me damn it!" She looked about ready to punch someone, so Renji finally answered.

"Calm down Masaki, we'll show you our powers, and then Urahara-san will explain everything." Masaki relaxed, but continued her 'Glare of Doom'. Renji just sighed before glancing at Ichigo and Rukia, who were both staring at him expectantly. "What? You two go first! You're her parents, after all." They just kept staring at him until they heard Masaki shout at them.

"Will you guys just _hurry up_ already?! Fine, Uncle Renji, you go first, then Mom, then Dad! Happy now? Just hurry the hell up!" Renji decided they shouldn't get the kid even _more_ angry, so he pulled out what looked like a pez dispenser and popped the candy into his mouth. Masaki could only gape at what happened next.

"Masaki, we're shinigami."

I hope you liked it! If you guys want, I'll try to post some more chapters! It may take awhile though, because I haven't started the second one yet, and for some reason, I can only write while at school(when I should be doing homework XD )

Urahara: Go do your homework, it's more important than fan fiction.

Me: NOOOOO!! Homework sucks and if you say that one more time I'll make you run around Soul Society AND Hueco Mundo wearing a frilly pink tutu!!

Urahara: NO I'll be good!

Ichigo: HA! Take that Sandal-Hat!

Kaien: Why are we named after dead people?!

Me: Because you're all horrible little zombie children.

Kaien & Hisana: sob You're mean!

Me: Yup!


	2. So you're dead? Fuck

Sorry for the extremely short chapter, but I just haven't been able to write much for this story lately. I hope you like it anyway though!

('.')

"Masaki, we're shinigami." Masaki stared in pure shock as Renji seemed to _pop out of his body_, and seemed to be wearing strange black samurai like clothes with a sword strapped to his side. She just sat there looking like a fish that had just been smacked into a wall. Kaien and Hisana had similar expressions on their faces.

"Sh-SHINIGAMI?! As in, GOD OF DEATH?! WHY?! HOW?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Masaki flailed her arm about wildly like a deranged turkey trying to fly.

"Masaki-chan, please calm down. We'll explain everything in more detail soon." She whipped her head around and glared at the shady shopkeeper. Urahara seemed a bit uncomfortable under her 'Glare of Doom'.

"THEN EXPLAIN IT NOW!! WHY IS UNCLE RENJI DRESSED LIKE THAT AND HOW COME THERES _ANOTHER ONE THAT LOOKS DEAD ON THE FLOOR?!_" At this point it sounded like she was going to destroy everyone's eardrums from shrieking so loudly.

"Eh? It's not supposed to look dead; I guess it was a faulty ginkogan. And Masaki, I know this is weird, but please quiet down! If you don't, I swear I'm gonna go deaf." Renji engaged in a staring contest with the orange haired teen for about five minutes until Masaki finally calmed down enough to let them explain. It went on like this for several hours as her parents also exited their bodies and explained exactly what shinigami were; it wouldn't have taken that long if the kids hadn't started freaking out at seeing their parents bodies on the ground looking dead.

'So… you guys are shinigami, meaning Mom and Uncle Renji are technically _dead_, and Dad is a substitute shinigami, meaning he is technically _half_ dead, and you all fight Hollows." Masaki looked like her head was about to explode from all the disturbing things she just learned.

"Well, when you put it that way… but yeah, that's about it." Masaki's eye was twitching dangerously.

"I'm going to lay down now." She fainted. Everyone stared.

"Well," Ichigo glanced at his friends. "that didn't go very well."

('.')

Again, I'm sorry for the short chapter! Gawd, it's not even one page! The first chapter was like, five or something! Crap!

Ichigo: Hey, stop yelling! Masaki's trying to sleep!

Me: Wow, even in the Author's Note you're acting like an overprotective mommy!

Ichigo: HEY!

Me: Now who's yelling…

Shirosaki: She got ya there, Mommy-Ichi!

Ichigo: DAMN IT SHIRO! attacks

Shirosaki: ACK!

Me: …that was amusing. So anyway, I gotta go, so Renji! Do the disclaimer and all that crap! Oh hey, second page lol.

Renji: Alright then, time for the pointless disclaimer. Kim doesn't own Bleach, otherwise all the filler story arcs in the anime would not exist. And there would be Ulquiorra on fire. She only owns Ichigo's kids.

Urahara: CHILD ENSLAVEMENT LAWS!

Me: SHUT UP SANDAL-HAT!! And why the heck did you call me Kim?!

Renji: Cause you don't wanna use your real name, so I'm using your middle name.

Me: Oh, okay. SEE YA!


End file.
